Clipped Wings

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a shuttle-hugger.  For 30 years, the American space program was dominated by those 5 beautiful, majestic birds that enabled some of the most important scientific moments of my generation.  We didn't have Apollo...we had Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.  And they were remarkable.  Two solid rocket boosters and 3 RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engines providing 2.8 million pounds of thrust, able to throw 53k pounds of payload into orbit (insert Tim Allen grunting here).  And oh, what they threw up there: communication satellites, classified military payloads, scientific research satellites, planetary probes (Magellan, Galileo, Ulysses), the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.  135 missions flown by 355 astronauts.  So much accomplished...and so much potential lost.

The upcoming week marks the anniversaries of the loss of the two senior orbiters, Challenger and Columbia.  And this week, two of her sisters gathered one last time in their Florida home, as they are prepared for their final mission: display pieces in museums.  On January 20th, Atlantis was wheeled over from her Orbiter Processing Facility into the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building.  Normally, she would ride wheels up on a special transporter, ready to be mated to a waiting external tank and sent to the pad for launch.  But on this day, she was wheeled over on her own gear, minus her Forward Control Thrusters and her 2 OMS pods, to be placed in temporary storage while her sister ships are prepared for display.  She joined Endeavour, who is right next door in High Bay 4, waiting to take Atlantis' place in the OPF on January 31st..  And so, for this short last time, the two sisters will spend time together in the only home they've even known.  And for a lucky few tourists, they will be the highlight of the behind the scenes tour currently being offered at Kennedy Space Center.  Visitors are being granted access to the VAB, and will be able to get closer than almost anyone in the general public have been allowed since the start of the shuttle program.  What makes this even special is that this is the only time the public has ever or will be able to be in the presence of two space-flown orbiters.  As you can see here, they're real and they're spectacular.  Only thru sheer force of will have I stopped myself from taking a vacation day and driving 12 hours to Florida for a chance at seeing them.

On the 31st, the two will bid their farewells, and Endeavour will roll back to the OPF for final processing in advance of her final trip to Los Angeles where she will be placed on display at the California Science Center.  Discovery is currently being prepped for her April 17th trip to Washington DC for placement in the Smithsonian (where she will have chance to drop in on her earth-bound sibling Enterprise, who is headed to New York).  And Atlantis will go on display at the Kennedy Space Center, configured with her payload bay doors open, forever as if on duty.  These ladies were the workhorses of America's human presence in space for the last 30 years, and although they still have a lot left in them they have earned their rest.  I am sad to see them go, and can only hope we don't disrespect them by not following up on the legacy they have left us.

This is a picture of the only shuttle launch I was privileged to witness: STS-98 on February 7, 2001.  I watched this launch 40 miles away, in Shamu's stadium at Sea World in Orlando.  Even from that distance, it looked very much like this.  It is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful launches of the program.